Bottas: Following in Hakkinen's footsteps

Mika Hakkinen retired from Formula 1 in 2001, and left the DTM in 2007. Today he helps to guide upcoming talent and fellow Finn Valtteri Bottas, a man who Hakkinen and Williams's Mark Gillan believe may be cut from the same cloth, as Tony Dodgins discovered

It was good to catch up with Mika Hakkinen at McLaren's Hockenheim HQ on Saturday. The two-time world champion was on Mercedes Night of the Stars ambassadorial duty with former Woking team-mate David Coulthard later that evening, and we got to do some reminiscing as we watched Adam Scott take over the lead of The Open at Lytham on the big screen.

Scott is another Mercedes ambassador, and DC had recently met the personable Australian at a promotional event. Little did we know then that poor Scott would blow a three-shot lead down the stretch the following day with the claret jug almost in his hands. On the verge of his first major, it will go down as one of those awful chokes that sportsmen with a knowledge of what it takes to compete at the highest level wouldn't wish on their worst enemy.